“Nothing,” coach Paul Stevens said after Northwestern’s Tuesday match-up against Milwaukee. “Nothing worked for us pitching-wise.”
Stevens sent seven pitchers to the mound for NU (8-17) during the contest. Milwaukee (8-16) responded with 16 total hits as it trumped the Wildcats 10-4.
Sophomore Jack Havey started the game for the Cats and, through the first three innings, allowed three hits while striking out four batters and hurling a first-pitch strike in nine of 11 at-bats. Then, in the fourth inning, the Panthers hit back-to-back doubles, followed by back-to-back singles and another double, off Havey, eventually scoring five runs.
“(Havey) was rolling really well,” Stevens said. “Then a couple solid hits off of him, and all of a sudden things went south.”
When things went south, Stevens brought on freshman righty Jack Livingston, who struck out the first batter he faced before walking the next two (one intentional) and making way for freshman sidearmer Jack Quigley to toe the rubber for the next 1.2 innings. The righty allowed no runs on no hits, while striking out one batter.
At the start of the sixth inning, senior lefty Matt Gailey replaced Quigley and allowed two hits and one walk, while striking out two and allowing no runs. In the seventh, freshman shortstop Kyle Ruchim took to the mound and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks. Freshmen Nick Friar and Henry Brooke split the eighth and ninth innings, each allowing one earned run.
“(It was) not a very good scenario,” Stevens said. “We were trying to get some guys that haven’t gotten some work, trying to prepare for some of the other things that are going on and trying to see who’s in a position to or not to help us out this weekend (against Penn State). We were trying some different things to see who might be able to step up because in a lot of close games we’ve had, it’s been pretty much the same guys over and over.”
One of baseball’s trademark sayings is that pitching and defense win you games. With the pitching staff struggling to perform on the mound, NU’s fielding improved the team’s game. Although the Cats recorded two throwing errors – one by Friar and the other by junior center fielder Trevor Stevens- early in the first inning, Ruchim, freshman second baseman Cody Stevens and first baseman Paul Snieder turned a helpful double-play, and senior third baseman Chris Lashmet made a diving play to throw to first for an out in the third. Snieder called Lashmet an “amazing third baseman.”
“He’s been making those kind of plays all year,” Snieder said. “He gets those balls, and I don’t know how he does it a lot of times. It’s amazing what kinds of balls he gets to. He’s solid down there in the corner.”
Snieder also contributed two of NU’s three hits, while sophomore left fielder Colby Everett knocked the other. Snieder’s hits included a double in the first inning and a first-pitch, solo home run the junior blasted over the left field fence in the sixth. The Honolulu native has a team-leading .345 batting average.
“I’ve been hitting the ball well recently,” Snieder said. “I’ve just been seeing the ball well.”
Even considering Snieder’s recent firepower, how does a team that just had 21 hits from 10 different players against Ohio State on Sunday end up with three hits on Tuesday?
“We didn’t swing the bats today, ” Stevens said. “We didn’t have a lot of the guys we normally would be putting in, (especially) Livingston. We were trying to get some pitching sides of it. That didn’t go well, so we weren’t able to roll him into a DH role. We were just trying to see a couple of different things.”
This weekend against Penn State, Stevens and his squad will have a chance to see in real-time who will be able to step up to perform on the mound in Big Ten play. In the meantime, especially with the pitching staff, Stevens plans to go over the mental side of the game.
“We need to address approach and attitude,” Stevens said. “We’ll tackle that (Wednesday).”
